“Excuse me. Would you mind watching over my stuff for me for just a minute?”

You're studying in a coffee shop by yourself. You want to get up to use the bathroom, but you're worried that someone will take your books or move them. You ask this to the woman who's sitting next to you.

Excuse me. Would you mind watching over my stuff for me for just a minute?

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To "watch over" something means to guard and protect it. But "watching over" something is not as serious as "guarding" it. A professional "guards" things like expensive artwork, an empty office building, and so on. But regular people can "watch over" things like someone's computer or someone's teenage child.

People often say that God "watches over" people as well:

God, we pray that you watch over Richard and his family in this difficult time.